Blake Pitch's Arc

Chapter 2 of 8

The morning of the dog park opening, Blake reread the blocked number's text one more time. A new line had arrived overnight. Nice ribbon. Cut it and I drop the file at noon. He did not know what file. He knew the voice behind it. Christian Howard did not sign his threats, but he left fingerprints. Blake called Lovelie into the kitchen. King IV padded in behind her, tail high, coat brushed for the cameras. Blake showed her the phone. She read it twice, the way she always did. "He wants you to cancel," she said. "So the story is you hiding." "Or I cut the ribbon and he burns the day." "Then don't give him the ribbon." She set the phone down. "Move the crowd first. Somewhere he can't touch." Blake understood before she finished. He picked up the phone and called his staff. Move the pre-opening to the country club his father had built. Free breakfast. Families welcome. Dogs on the lawn. Buses from the affected district, no charge. Two hours before the park ribbon. By nine, the club's front porch was full of strollers and leashes. Kids chased King IV across the grass. Blake shook hands he had not shaken in a long time, some of them belonging to people who had every right to refuse. One woman held her grip a second longer than the others. He met her eyes and did not look away. Lovelie stood beside him at the low steps. She did not use a microphone. She said the twins were home with her sister and that she wanted every child here to feel as safe as her own. She named the neighborhood the buses had come from. She said its name like it was hers. At ten-forty, Blake's phone buzzed. A local reporter, not the blocked number. A packet had landed in her inbox. Old permit records. His name on a signature line from the displacement deal. She wanted a comment before noon. Blake stepped away from the crowd and sat on a concrete bench near the drive, its top layered in old campaign stickers, some his, most not. He called the reporter back. He did not deny the signature. He said yes, he signed it. He said families were pushed out. He named the deal. He said he would answer questions on camera at the park at noon, after the ribbon. At noon he cut the ribbon with King IV at his heel. Then he stood at the podium and answered every question the reporter asked. The story that ran that night was not the smear Christian had built. It was Blake admitting it first, on his own ground, with children and dogs behind him. The blocked number went quiet. Bradley called before dinner. He had seen the news. He asked if it was true. Blake said yes. The line held for a long moment. Then his son asked why he had to hear it from a screen.